T-Fiber Grid: Telangana urban people get broadband connectivity linked with water pipelines

Every household in an urban area in the State will now get broadband connectivity under Telangana Fiber Grid (T-Fiber), a first-of-its-kind initiative by any State government in the country. Around 72 urban areas including Hyderabad will be connected to the fiber optic cable network which is being laid along with drinking water pipelines using ducts under Urban Mission Bhagiratha.

A joint working group of Information Technology and Municipal Administration departments will be formed to coordinate with officials of Mission Bhagiratha and expedite laying of fibre optic cables along with pipelines being laid under Urban Mission Bhagiratha.

The entire expenditure for the project will be taken care by the state while the deadline to complete T-fiber project is set in August 2018. The state claims to have made tender deals to carry out the fiber laying process. There was no information provided on the speeds offered and tariff details. The T-fiber government website also doesn’t mention any tariff details.

Mission Bhagiratha was unveiled in April; it aims to provide 1 lakh new tap connections in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The project is now physically being linked with T-fiber for identifying and connecting areas faster. The state government’s IT administration and the Municipal Corporation will set up a joint committee to supervise the project. Fiber cables will also be laid alongside already existing water pipelines, the report added.

Features:

Government to deliver Government to Citizen (G2C) and Government to Government (G2G) services – by providing high speed broadband connectivity to government offices, educational institutions, hospitals, banks and other public service institutions

Bandwidth Provision and/or infrastructure to various operators on non-discriminatory and non-monopolistic manner without entering into competition

T-Fiber will get support from BharatNet

T-Fiber will cover a total distance of 47,000 Kms, and will also be combined with the Center’s BharatNet project – the government ambitious fiber line project that aims to connect 250,000 lakh Gram Panchayats with fiber connectivity. BharatNet has however missed 3 deadlines while costs have doubled due to the delay.

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Hyderabad City WiFi project: Apart from the state-sponsored wired broadband project, Telangana is also investing in WiFi. The govt launched 1,000 WiFi hotspots in Hyderabad in June. It plans to setup hotspots in 2,000 more locations. ISPs including ACT and telcos like Airtel and BSNL have provided bandwidth for the project while IndusTowers, a joint tower infrastructure venture consisting of Idea, Vodafone and Airtel, also participated in the WiFi rollout.

IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said 3,000 public locations have been identified to create Wi-Fi hotspots in public places in Hyderabad and next month this Wi-Fi programme will be launched. “Typically, it will take around four-six months to cover 3,000 hot spots,” he said.

T-Fiber Grid to be completed by mid 2018:

Telangana Fiber Grid (T-Fiber) project, aimed at providing Internet connection to every household in Telangana, will be completed by mid-2018, says state IT Minister K T Rama Rao.

“By the middle of next year, Telangana will not only be the first state in the country to be giving potable drinking water connection to each and every house, but will also be the first in the country to be giving a broadband internet connection,” the minister said.

“Once you have every home wired, the possibilities are numerous. Health, education, commerce opportunities that it can unleash are manifold. T-Fiber programme will be completed by mid-2018,” Rao said.